New York has a critical shortage of blood

Blood shortage

For nearly a year, blood drives were put on hold. And they still haven't resumed at workplaces, schools and other public places.

NEW YORK - We're in a state of emergency when it comes to the country's bloody supply.

"The pandemic has just created a chronic deficit," said Andrea Cefarelli, senior executive director of recruitment and marketing for the New York Blood Center.

Blame the pandemic and the reopening. For nearly a year, blood drives were put on hold, and they still haven't resumed at workplaces, schools, and other public places.

As blood supply has plummeted, demand has now skyrocketed. Cefarelli said hospitals in the New York City area are feeling the pinch.

"The need for blood is just thousands of pints higher than it was the same time pre-pandemic in 2019," she said.

The reason? A backlog of surgeries, which were put on hold because of the pandemic.

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"We've got all these patients that have waited three, five, six, seven months to have necessary surgery and that backlog is now here, so the surge for surgical volume, operative volume is very real," said Dr. Paresh Shah, surgeon-in-chief of NYU Langone Health.

NYU Langone staff staved off a critical shortage by staging their own blood drive.

"There was a period of time where it was very much up in the air if we could continue normal operations, even scheduled surgeries, because of the shortage of blood supply and blood products," Shah said.

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Elsewhere in the country, hospitals have had to delay non-essential surgeries because of low blood supply.

Compounding the challenges of surging demand and lower supply, the summer season is always a slow one for blood donation because of travel. It could be even slower this summer as vaccination rates rise and people take much-needed vacations.

"Our predictions are [that] we're going to be in an austere state for blood for really the foreseeable future," Shah said.

Before the pandemic, the New York Blood Center was hosting an average of 550 blood drives a month in our area. Now that number is down to 350. Officials say if you would like to host a blood drive at your workplace, place of worship, school, or elsewhere, get in touch and they will be happy to coordinate and get it set up. Visit NYBC.org for more information.